A pair of second-half goals sent Louisville City FC to a 2-0 victory against Lexington SC in the first meeting for the Commonwealth Cup this season on Thursday night before a crowd of 8,233 fans at Lynn Family Stadium.

The victory was LouCity’s 12th consecutive home win in the USL Championship regular season, putting it one off the league’s all-time record of 13 consecutive home wins set by Orlando City SC in the 2014 season, and also marked the club’s 200th win in USL-sanctioned competition since it kicked off in 2015.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.  

1. LOUCITY’S URGENCY MADE KEY DIFFERENCE

With Lexington’s desire to possess the ball – the visitors entered the game ranked third in the league with 55.1 percent average possession rate – and LouCity’s focus on where the game is being played, the first Commonwealth Cup set up as a matchup based on which of the sides could execute its plan more consistently. As it’s proven over the past season-plus at Lynn Family Stadium, it was the hosts’ intensity that carried the day as they were able to consistently put Lexington on its heels and eventually come away with a 12th consecutive home regular season victory.

With the experience in its lineup – including former LouCity standout Speedy Williams in its lineup – Lexington knew what it was going up against but was simply too pedestrian on the ball to give Louisville trouble until the very end when it started chasing the game. Louisville won possession eight times in the attacking third – one of which led directly to Phillip Goodrum’s victory-sealing strike with nine minutes to go – while only 18.1 percent of the game was played in Louisville’s defensive third. Louisville’s homefield advantage has become the gold standard in the USL Championship, and Lexington didn’t have the wherewithal to break through.

2. CORNER KICKS REMAIN LOUCITY’S GREAT PLAN ‘B’

As impressive as Louisville City has been in creating chances and finishing from open play over the past two seasons, the side’s ability to execute from corner kicks remains a tremendous backup plan if things aren’t quite clicking otherwise. So, when the hosts broke the deadlock midway through the second half – officially on an own goal by Lexington’s Gaël Gibert – it was little surprise it came from a set piece.

Since the start of the 2023 season, LouCity has collectively scored 30 goals from corner kicks across the regular season and playoffs. That’s 10 goals more than their closest rival the Charleston Battery, and accounts for more than 20 percent of their goals over that span – also the highest percentage of any team in the league. The combination of targets like Kyle Adams and Arturo Ordóñez and the bloody-minded endeavor that sees everyone fight to win their one-on-one battle is one of Louisville’s biggest strength and ended up proving the difference.

3. LEXINGTON’S SCORING DROUGHT CONTINUES

Lexington attempted a fight-back after going down by two goals, but the urgency the visitors showed as Jacob Greene hit the woodwork and Marcus Epps had an effort cleared by Louisville’s Kyle Adams at the top of the six-yard area were too little, too late. Four of Lexington’s nine shot attempts overall came in the final 10 minutes of the game, but with nothing to show for their efforts the side’s scoreless streak now sits at 382 minutes across the regular season and USL Jägermeister Cup.

The hope for the visitors was the addition of Forster Ajago to the lineup might help break that run, but the loanee from Real Salt Lake had a disappointing debut that saw him record a team-fewest 12 touches and no shots before a red card he got baited into in the 50th minute. Lexington continues to look for its first win against a professional opponent since the opening day of the season, and there’s plenty for Head Coach Terry Boss to ponder on the way forward from here.